Hookah, E-cigs Safer Than Cigarettes, Young Adults Believe

According to a new US study, adults under 25 are more likely to believe that hookah and e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes, compared to 25 to 34-year-olds.

“This is concerning as it suggests that even a substantial proportion of nonsmokers may view hookah as being a relatively safer and acceptable way to use tobacco,” the researchers wrote.

The research involved data from 2,871 smoking and nonsmoking young adults, ages 18-34. Dr. Olivia A. Wackowski and Dr. Cristine D. Delnevo found that a quarter of young adults believed hookahs to be less risky than cigarettes. This belief is shared by current cigarette smokers and those who had never smoked cigarettes before.

“This might be associated with differences in advertising messages these groups are exposed to, the variety of flavors these different products are offered in, and in the case of e-cigarettes, possibly an inclination for younger people to attribute more positive feelings toward newer products that are seen as new and ‘techy’,” commented the study authors.

Other ket findings of the study include the following:

62.1% of young adults ages 18 to 24 believed that e-cigarettes were less risky than cigarettes, while 54.6% of 25 to 34-year-olds believed e-cigarettes to be less risky. Additionally, 32.7% of 18 to 24-year-olds believed hookah to be less risky than cigarettes, while 18.5% of 25 to 34-year-olds believed hookah to be less risky.

57.8% of respondents believed e-cigarettes to be less risky than cigarettes and 11.4% said they were unsure.

50% of respondents said that methanol cigarettes, hookah, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and snus were about as risky as cigarettes.

30% of all respondents believed that smokeless tobacco, menthol cigarettes, and cigars were more risky than cigarettes.

24.5% of respondents reported that hookah is less risky than cigarettes, which was equally prevalent for both cigarette smokers and nonsmokers.

31.2% of respondents reported that they had smoked at least 100 cigarettes before and smoked regularly at the time of the survey.

The researchers also found that the belief that some tobacco products were riskier than cigarettes did not stop people from using them. They theorized that promoting other tobacco products, such as snuffs, as safer may not encourage smokers to switch products but instead encourage new product uptake for both smokers and nonsmokers.

First, yes, c-cigarettes are much, much safer. That’s scientifically proven. Second, don’t have a study about people believing incorrect facts if you don’t state the correct facts. Exactly how unsafe are hookahs and e-cigarettes, in your line of thinking? What are your sources?

And the researchers that conducted this study – which organization are they with? If they’re saying that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as regular cigarettes, they are obviously not credible.

Hookahs are actually worse than cigarettes. E-cigs are much, much better – in fact, they were recently endorsed by Britain’s National Institute for Health as not only a far healthier alternative to cigarettes, but also one of those most effective tools for smoking cessation.

Government health body, Public Health England has said only a few days ago that e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than the tobacco version.

So what exactly was the point of this ‘research’ other than to highlight that young adults have been influenced by anti e-cigarette propaganda paid for and instigated by nicotine replacement product companies and various other vested interest groups who regard vaping as a threat to their profits ?